Ealph shoff



I (No Model.)

B. SHOPF.

DEVIOBPOR CLEANING OIL WELLS AND PROMOTING THE FLOW OF OIL. No. 391,431.Patented Oct. 23, 1888 N. PETERs, Phom-Limn n har, Washi .l;

rrrcie.

RALPH SHOFF, OF BOLIVAR, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,431, dated Qcto ber28, 1888.

Application filed November 10, 1887.

T aZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, RALPH SHOFF, a citizen of the United States, residingat Bolivar, in the county ofAllegauy and State ofNew York, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Devices for Cleaning Oil-Wells andPromoting the Flow of Oil, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a simple, convenient, and reliable automaticdevice for cleaning oil-wells and increasingthe flow of oil; and itconsists in the combination,with the oil-well tubing, ota casingcontaining a spring seated valve, and provided with the means forregulati ng the pressure of the valve to the pressure of the accumulatedoil and gas in the tube below said valve until said accumulated oil andgas exert a force 'sufficient to raise the valve and dislodge the oilabove and around the valve-casing, thereby cleaning the well and causingan increased flow of oil.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating the invention, Figure 1 is avertical longitudinal section of my improved device for promoting theflow of oil in wells, and Fig. 2 is a hori zontal section of the same onthe line :0 x of Fig. 1.

The numeral 1 designates two-inch tubing leading from the lower part ofan oil-well, and having secured to its upper end a coupling, 2, whichprojects inward above the tube 1, and has an internal diameter of, say,oncinch and a half.

To the coupling 2 is secured an enlarged tube, 3, having an internaldiameter of four inches, except at its ends,where the diameter isreduced for convenience of attachment to the coupling 2 and to the upperwell-tube, 4, the latter having an internal diameter of two inches.

In the end of the enlarged tube 3 is supportedlongitudinally a verticalval ve-casing, 5, by means of radial arms 6, disposed at such intervalsas to offer no obstruct-ion to the flow of the oil in the annular spacebetween the tube 3 and inclosed valve-casing. The valve casing 5 iscylindrical or tubularin for1n,with a closed top, 7, and alower openend. This easing contains asolid cylindrical valve,8,having a diameterof about two inches, or approxi- Serial No. 254,820. (No model.)

mately the same as that of the casing to which it is fitted. The lowerend of the cylindrical valve 8 has a beveled edge, 9, to correspond witha beveled valve-seat .10, formed on the upper end of the coupling 2.

Above the valve 8 is aspiral spring, 12,and above this a follower-plate,13, both inclosed in the valve-casing. passed through the top 7 of thevalve-casing and bears on the follower 13, whereby the pressure ortension of the spring 12 can be regulated so as to cause the valve 8 tobear down in its valve-seat 10 with any desired force. NVhen the oil andgas in the lower tubing, 1, have accumulated in sufficien't quantitiesto overcome the downward pressure of the spring 12,which has beenset,say,for twenty-five orfifty pounds, as occasion may require, thevalve 8 will be raised and the pressure of the oil and gas beneath thevalve will throw out all oil that is standing in the tubes 3 and ataround and above the valve-casing. It may be observed that this effectwill be accomplished without requiring the oil in the lower tube to liftthe column of oil above while raising the valve, because the valve isseated solely by its spring, and as the upper end of the valve-casing isclosed there can be no downward pressure of oil on the valve; neitherwill any obstruction to the rise of the valve be offered by the smallquantity of oil surrounding its lowerend when closed. As soon as thevalve is raised the confined oil and gas will rush through the reducedspaces in the coupling 2 and tube 3 toward the tube 4, where they willfind room to expand, and thus all accumulations of oil in the tubes 3and 4 will be forcibly ejected and an increased impetus given to theflow of oil from the well.

Ordinarily, the gas is continually escaping in such small qu antitiesthat it simply sprays the oil without dislodging it and does not cleanthe well; but by means of my invention the pressure of the springseatcdvalve can be so adjusted as to produce any desired pressure ofaccumulated gas and oil in the well, so thatwhen released thewell-tubing will be eltectu ally cleaned and an increased flow of oilobtained.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combinatiomwith the oil welltubing,

An adjusting-screw, 14, is

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drical valve-casing, 5, located centrally in said enlarged tube, thevalveS and spring 12,placed in said casing, and the screw 14:,passedthrough I 5 the top of the valve-casing to adjust the valvespring,substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RALPH SI-IOFF.

of a cylindrical valve-casing located in said tubing and having a closedupper end and an open lower end, a spring-seated valve located in thelower end of said casing to engage a valve-seat in the tubing, and ascrew to adjust the pressure of the valve in its seat, substantially asdescribed.

2. The cornbination,with the oil-well tubing 1 and 4 and an intermediateenlarged tube, 3, of a coupling, 2, having a reduced internal di-\Vitnesses:

CHAS. H. BROWN, 1 O. W. FULLER.

ameter and provided with a valve-seat, 10, at the lower end of theenlarged tube, a cylin-

